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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29509125">Beauty, Death, and the Shadows Birthed From It</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSoundScreecher_ailingAmnemonic/pseuds/TheSoundScreecher_ailingAmnemonic'>TheSoundScreecher_ailingAmnemonic</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Minecraft (Video Game), My Hero Origins (Minecraft Roleplay), Origins of Olympus (Minecraft Roleplay), Video Blogging RPF</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Artemis is the Brypu Love Child Headcanon, Avian's still a riot, Bryan has adopted Dorm 8 and y'all can't say otherwise, Bryan with black hair and wings, Canonical Character Death, Gen, He's quietly emo now, LITERALLY, M/M, No beta we die like Bryan, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Overprotective Shino, Resurrection, There is a somewhat graphic description of injuries in chapter 3, be warned, beans being beans, idk what other tags to add, soul searching</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-05-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-16 02:28:18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>13,169</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29509125</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSoundScreecher_ailingAmnemonic/pseuds/TheSoundScreecher_ailingAmnemonic</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>For the past few days, familiar dreams plague Artemis' sleep with no reason or warning. Thinking nothing much of it, he goes about his day like any other... until he falls down a rabbit hole that was better off undisturbed...</p><p>Or so he thought at first.<br/>Turns out, this departed angel was looking for more than just its missing soul.</p><p>(Summary sucks, my apologies ;w;)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Bryan (Origins of Olympus) &amp; Artemis Divil (My Hero Origins), Bryan (Origins of Olympus) &amp; Artemis Divil | Umbra (My Hero Origins), Bryan/Inpu (Origins of Olympus), Haruto Ishikawa | Avian/Venus Ishikawa (My Hero Origins), Other Relationship Tags to Be Added, Rikku Fujimoto &amp; Shizu Miryoku (My Hero Origins), Rikku Fujimoto | Limodorum &amp; Shizu Miryoku | Bipolaris (My Hero Origins), Rikku Fujimoto | Limodorum/Shizu Miryoku | Bipolaris (My Hero Origins), Shino Basca &amp; Artemis Divil &amp; Rikku Fujimoto (My Hero Origins), Shino Basca &amp; Artemis Divil | Umbra &amp; Rikku Fujimoto | Limodorum (My Hero Origins), Shino Basca/Artemis Divil | Umbra (My Hero Origins)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>26</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Dream</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I began plotting for this story sometime after the hero costume episodes when I found this drawing on Twitter by @DJMurphy_05 about Artemis being the Brypu love child, and I was just like, "For God's sake, you already have a bazillion projects to work on! Don't make more!" But I couldn't restrain myself.<br/>I came up with a proper plot and just started finding myself writing five chapters in the span of two days.<br/>So yeah, hopefully, you enjoy! Sorry if some characters are OOC, I only have so much time to watch every perspective, but I still really wanted to make this ;w;</p><p>An additional note, all breaker thingy mabobers are all lyrics from "Look at the Sky" by Porter Robinson! :))</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span class="break"> <strike> <b>&lt;Is it fate? If it’s not easy, it must not be.&gt;</b> </strike> </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Although everything had been murky at first, Artemis soon came to hear a soft, melodic hum, sounding so far away, and yet, closer than he’d expect, as if its source came from right behind him, but his ears weren’t working well enough to hear the lullaby clearly. It sounded peaceful, calm, and warm, like a soft blanket wrapped around him. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> The rest of his senses simultaneously return. Although he could barely smell them, Artemis could still see flowers all around him. Gardenias, lilies, carnations, daisies, peonies, marigolds, and even some dark, sorrowful flowers that he couldn’t put a name to. This… hazy field he sat in had grass as soft as cotton and flowers of every kind... even roses. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Roses… he doesn’t remember why the sight of roses would be odd to him, but just as hazy the sight of flowers was, the feeling of hand and brush, combing through his hair, was numb and dulled as well. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Someone was sitting behind him, taking care of his dual-coloured locks as he played amongst the foliage. It was peaceful, he felt happy even if he didn’t know why. Something in the distance caught his eyes, and somehow, it made him even happier.  </em>
</p><p>
  <em> A dark figure was heading towards them, and the humming behind him grew softer and softer until it wasn’t there entirely. The distant figure appeared to be… waving… until everything dimmed into darkness. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span class="break"> <strike> <b>&lt;At that age, I cherished the flowers beneath my feet.&gt;</b> </strike> </span>
</p><p> </p><p>Artemis Divil slowly awoke that morning, feeling tired as ever despite the fact he had slept early last night. He was almost tempted to go back to sleep, but the fear of detention slips kept pushing him to consciousness, so he got up and got dressed into his school uniform.</p><p>
  <span>After making sure he had everything in his bag, he grabbed it and began to make his way downstairs. In the kitchen, Artemis was immediately greeted by the delicious smell of bacon and eggs, it seems as if one of his roommates was already awake, and judging from who in the dorm could cook, he thought it was reasonable to assume it was Shino.</span>
</p><p>Turns out, he was right.</p><p>“Morning, Shino!”</p><p>“Morning, Artemis,” his roommate replied, sliding a plate towards his direction. “You’re up late.”</p><p>The white-and-black-haired male laughed a bashful laugh as he picked up the plate and sat at the dining table.</p><p>“Yeah… I… had another dream.”</p><p>Shino looked at him with a cocked brow with something akin to worry in his eyes.</p><p>“Which one?”</p><p>“The one about the flower field…” Artemis replied between bites.</p><p>Although these strange, recurring dreams had been recent news to Shino and their other roommate, Rikku, they were nothing new to Artemis, who has had them since he was very young. Although, he stopped having them for some time after he turned fourteen, but began experiencing them again about a week ago, except instead of them happening every few days during his nighttime sleep, he began having them every time he closed his eyes long enough to start dreaming. It also didn’t help much that whenever he woke up, he felt as if he hadn’t slept at all.</p><p>Like today, he was tired.</p><p>“You’re not eating?” Artemis asked once he finished his food, walking over to the sink to clean his plate.</p><p>“Already ate,” Shino reassured. “Y’know… if you’re having problems with sleeping, you should go over to the nurse's office. Maybe Venus has something that could help you.”</p><p>Artemis thought about it. Although he was unsure their quirk would be able to help with sleep deprivation, he was willing to give it a try.</p><p>“Maybe after school. Is Rikku up yet?”</p><p>“Not yet.”</p><p>“School starts in less than ten minutes.”</p><p>Shino hummed.</p><p>“We should certainly wake him up.”</p><p>Before either of them could begin to make their way downstairs, the aforementioned blonde dashed up the stairs, still in the process of tying his shoes and slipping his jacket on.</p><p>“I’m up, I’m up!!!” Rikku announced.</p><p>“Morning Rikku!” Artemis greeted.</p><p>“Morning Arty! Morning Shino!!” Rikku paused. “I FORGOT MY BAG!” he yelled, running back down the stairs as Shino and Artemis were either chuckling or trying to restrain their laughter respectively.</p><p>“You may want to hurry up, Rikku!” Shino called, sliding another plate of bacon and eggs onto the table. “School starts in less than ten minutes!”</p><p>“I’M ALMOST READY HOLD ON!!!” they heard Rikku yelling from his room.</p><p>Artemis could feel a smile make its way onto his face as he strapped his backpack on. Today was another day.</p><p> </p><p>
  <span class="break"> <strike> <b>&lt;But then something must have changed in me, I used to feel so light.&gt;</b> </strike> </span>
</p><p> </p><p>“KEEP GOING! WE HAVE ABOUT FIVE MINUTES LEFT!” Shino yelled as he dashed through the campus, Artemis and Rikku not far behind.</p><p>“WE’RE TRYING!!!” Artemis yelled in reply, struggling to keep up with Shino as he dashed across the grass lawn.</p><p>“WAIT UP! I CAN’T RUN THAT FAST!!!” Rikku screamed.</p><p>Artemis looked back to see Rikku lagging behind.</p><p><em> ‘I should wait for him.’ </em> He thought as began slowing down.</p><p>He noticed Rikku looking up, his face contorting in something akin to fear.</p><p>“ARTY WATCH OUT!”</p><p>“Huh…?” As he looked back forward, the first thing Artemis noticed was Shino up ahead, standing under the doorways of the school, looking as worried as Rikku did. The next thing he noticed was his foot getting caught by the side of the pavement, and after that, he noticed the school’s iron gate, inches away from his face.</p><p>As expected, he slammed headfirst into it and landed butt-first on a patch of loose dirt from recoil. Artemis could feel his entire face throbbing from the impact, but fortunately, he doesn’t think he hit the fence hard enough to break his nose, however, he may still need to pay a visit to the nurse's office a lot sooner than he originally planned.</p><p>“Arty!”</p><p>“Artemis are you okay?” Shino yelled as he began jogging towards him.</p><p>“I think so…” Artemis groaned, holding his nose tightly as he began sitting up.</p><p> </p><p>He suddenly froze.</p><p>He heard a crack.</p><p>He didn’t feel any pain though, so it probably wasn’t a broken bone or anything. In fact… it sounded almost as if it were coming from… <em> under him. </em></p><p>Artemis panicked as he tried to shoot up to his feet, but this only caused the dirt under him to collapse and break underneath more than it already was.</p><p>At this point, Rikku and Shino had noticed what was happening and had both broken into full-blown sprints. Unfortunately, they were clearly too late. As Artemis attempted to step off the unstable ground, it finally fell under him. For a solid second, he felt his entire body weight be pulled down by gravity, and for another second, it painfully stopped as his hands made a desperate attempt to latch onto the dirt above.</p><p>“ARTY!!!” He heard Rikku scream.</p><p>“HOLD ON!” He heard Shino yell, his voice growing ever so near, but not even a second later, the ground beneath Artemis’ own fingers collapsed, sending the boy back to gravity’s mercy.</p><p>Artemis fell for a second, or maybe four, hitting his arm against the side of the hole, before being slammed against something that was soft enough to not be more dirt, something that smelt… good, but was prickly nonetheless.</p><p>It didn’t seem like something that should be found underground, but Artemis didn’t have the strength to wonder how or what he landed on, because all he could think about was the <em> agonizing pulses all over his body. </em></p><p> </p><p>
  <span class="break"> <strike> <b>&lt;Now I’ll try... I just want time.&gt;</b> </strike> </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Tomb</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I will admit, the ending is probably kinda weird sounding :'))<br/>Writing is hard</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span class="break"> <strike> <b>&lt;Wait again, I will be much better then.&gt;</b> </strike> </span>
</p><p> </p><p>Artemis couldn’t exactly remember when he had shut his eyes, but as he slowly opened them, he was almost blinded by the sunlight above.</p><p>He wanted to block it out or look away, but his entire body was screaming in pain, especially the hand that collided against the stone walls of the hole. It felt as if someone had pounded it with a sledgehammer, and even if the soft thing he landed on mostly broke his fall, Artemis could feel sharp… needles digging into his skin and piercing through his clothes, and if he were to add on to the list of body parts that was hurting, he would painfully mention how sore his throat felt, probably from all the screaming.</p><p>Although everything hurt, it probably would hurt a lot less if he got off of whatever he landed on.</p><p>“ARTEMIS!”</p><p>“ARTY!” Two figures at the top of the hole looked down at him, blocking some light from getting in. “ARE YOU OKAY?” Rikku yelled.</p><p>Artemis grimaced as he forced himself to sit up. Although his arm began pulsing and burning more than it had before, at least his body was somewhat relieved from the multiple needles… <em> actually, </em> looking around, Artemis realized that what he landed on was in fact a small field of rose bushes.</p><p>
  <em> ‘Explains the thorns…’ </em>
</p><p>“ARTEMIS?” he heard Shino yell, reminding him that he had yet to reply.</p><p>“I… I’M NOT SURE?” he decided to be honest… honest-enough that is. “MY ENTIRE BODY HURTS… BUT NOT AS MUCH AS MY ARM DOES.”</p><p>Although he couldn’t tell what it was exactly, Artemis could hear Shino mumble something, it sounded like a curse though.</p><p>“ARTEMIS, CAN YOU GET OUT WITH YOUR SHADOW POWERS?” he asked.</p><p>“UM, I THINK SO?” Artemis replied. “IT’S PRETTY DARK HERE ALREADY, SO IT SHOULDN’T BE… Too… hard…” he fell silent.</p><p>The hole he fell down led him to some sort of… dark cave… but something in the distance caught his eyes. He saw light emanating from an open archway.</p><p>There was something in that distant room, practically calling out his name. It wasn’t something familiar, he didn’t think so anyways… but… something was drawing him near…</p><p>“ARTY?”</p><p>He could feel himself get onto his feet.</p><p>“ARTEMIS!”</p><p>He could feel himself walk off the crushed roses…</p><p>“ARTEMIS WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!”</p><p>He could feel himself stepping into the darkness and towards the light. He could feel himself disappear from Shino and Rikku’s sights.</p><p> </p><p>
  <span class="break"> <strike> <b>&lt;Holding on, I said: “I will be much better then.”&gt;</b> </strike> </span>
</p><p> </p><p>“ARTY!!!” Rikku yelled as loud as humanly possible. “COME BACK!”</p><p>“Rikku be careful!” Shino scolded, pulling the blonde away from the loose edges of the hole. </p><p>“B-But… Arty!” Rikku said in a trembling voice, moments away from actually bursting into tears.</p><p>Although Shino himself was trying to stay calm, he still found himself holding his fists so tight, they began to look pale.</p><p>“This is bad, I know, but we need to stay calm,” he said, trying to comfort the younger student. “Rikku, listen to me carefully, I need you to go get Avian, got it?”</p><p>He nodded frantically.</p><p>“Good. I’ll stay here and try to get to Artemis.”</p><p>There was no time to argue, so Rikku nodded once more.</p><p>“I will! So stay safe and protect Artemis while I’m gone! I’ll be back soon!” He declared, before running off into the school, leaving Shino to look into the hole and wonder how to safely descend.</p><p>Meanwhile, the sound of a school bell ringing filled the air.</p><p> </p><p>
  <span class="break"> <strike> <b>&lt;Look at the sky, I’m still here. I’ll be alive next year.&gt;</b> </strike> </span>
</p><p> </p><p>When Artemis realised what he had been doing, he was already standing under the light-filled room’s entryway, staring into an ancient-greek inspired room.</p><p>The chamber was illuminated by crystals and gems of all colours of the rainbow, and on the furthest wall in front of him, there was a large manuscript that covered every inch of the wall in a language he probably wouldn’t have understood. Probably because the manuscript, the lights, nor the decor of the room were not what caught his attention first, because it was the <em> coffin </em> he noticed first.</p><p>There it sat, in the middle of the room, where wall and floor designs could lead the eyes to. Artemis had expected to see a rotted skeleton through its glass lid, but what he saw instead was undeniably beautiful, as it was sinister.</p><p>The body had sun-kissed skin so smooth, it rivalled even the finest porcelain and ceramics, and just like broken ceramic, pieces of it were held together with small, golden lines that snaked between the cracks.</p><p>Though Artemis couldn’t see its eyes (due to them obviously being closed), he still could see shiny black locks that seemed to absorb the darkness around it, split evenly in the middle and falling over a white and gold star crown on its forehead.</p><p>The outfit it wore was one Artemis could only ever dream of creating. The body had on a light-grey, button-up vest under a white, sleeveless coat trimmed in the rainbow, black knee-high boots over white pants, and the accessories did nothing but emphasize its heavenly appearance. There was the star crown, but there also was the golden, feathered bands on its upper arms, and clean gold and brown ones on their forearms and wrists, and as odd as it looked with everything else, around their neck rested an Egyptian-styled necklace with and empty golden frame of an ankh looped through the coil. On its left shoulder was a tattoo of a heart with a cross underneath it,</p><p><em> ‘The heart of venus…’ </em> his mind told him, and as surprised as he was to realize he hadn’t noticed it sooner, sandwiched between the body and the bed of colourful flowers was a pair of massive, grey wings, and yet, despite the bent feathers, it did not detract from their beauty.</p><p>Its facial expression was calm, and its chest clearly unmoving. Artemis wasn’t sure why, but somehow, the sight of it brought tears to his eyes. It was a tragic loss.</p><p>“ARTEMIS!” he was pulled out of his thoughts by Shino’s voice.</p><p>“SHINO?” he replied, looking back to the column of light he had arrived from. There was silence for a second or two before Shino’s voice came again.</p><p>“HOLD ON, I’LL BE DOWN THERE IN MOMENT,”</p><p>Artemis sighed in relief, taking one last look at the coffin before walking away. Somehow, he had almost forgotten the pain in his left arm, but now that he’d been brought back to reality, the pain had returned, and he just wanted to get out of there… <em> but… </em></p><p>“SHINO, THERE’S SOMETHING DOWN HERE!” he yelled out.</p><p>“WHAT DO YOU MEAN?” Shino shouted back, his voice sounding a little closer than it had moments prior. “WHAT COULD BE DOWN THERE?”</p><p>“IT…” Artemis thought about it for a second. “WELL, IT LOOKS KIND OF LIKE A-- ARGH!!”</p><p>It all happened so fast. Something had wrapped itself around his broken arm, and had begun crushing it under its grip.</p><p>He cried in agony as he looked back. He wasn’t too sure what he was seeing, but if his eyes weren’t deceiving him, then a moving stone hand gripped around his own before slowly consuming the entire limb.</p><p>“ARTEMIS!” </p><p>Just when he thought it couldn’t get worse, he could feel dozens of needles puncturing his wrist from all sides.</p><p>Artemis screamed, he screamed louder than he had ever had before. His arm felt like it was ripping apart.</p><p> </p><p>
  <span class="break"> <strike> <b>&lt;I can make something good, oh… Something good.&gt;</b> </strike> </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Revival</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I decided to post the next chapter now since I finished chapter 6 last night uwu<br/>I will admit, it's not the best :'))<br/>My writing skills are mediocre, but I would greatly appreciate it if you left feedbacks and comment! ^u^<br/>Always helps a writer grow.<br/>But anywho, hope y'all enjoy this chap :))</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span class="break"> <strike> <b>&lt;Look at the sky, I’m still here. I’ll be alive next year.&gt;</b> </strike> </span>
</p><p> </p><p>Shino almost lost his footing scaling down the hole. How could he not? Artemis’ was shrieking his lungs out!</p><p>“ARTEMIS!” he yelled, trying desperately to climb down faster, but when his roommate’s agonized screams grew louder, he could feel his heartbeat racing faster than it ever had before. Without a moment's hesitation, Shino let go of the dirt and allowed gravity to claim him as rose bushes<em> - crushed, but still plentiful- </em> broke his fall.</p><p>Stumbling out the thicket, he looked towards the direction of Artemis’ screaming, and although he couldn’t see it well, he could still feel his blood run cold.</p><p>Something was dragging the injured boy towards a room of light. Not even the most naive of children would be foolish enough to see this as a harmless act, so what Shino did was dash like he’d never before. Almost tripping, he wrapped his arms around Artemis and began pulling back against the strange stone limb.</p><p>Artemis kept screaming.</p><p> </p><p>
  <span class="break"> <strike> <b>&lt;I can make something good, oh… Something good.&gt;</b> </strike> </span>
</p><p> </p><p>Haruto Ishikawa, more well known as Avian, was disappointed, yet not alarmed to see students missing his class once again. Today, it appears Shino, Artemis, and Rikku were all absent.</p><p>He was a little surprised about Shino being missing since he did take his studies seriously, and even more surprised with Artemis and Rikku, who were both very good, well-behaved kids. </p><p>He sighed, </p><p>
  <em> ‘Might as well start class now and hope those three show up.’ </em>
</p><p>Just as he was about to begin the lesson, however, the classroom door was nearly blown off its hinges, catching everyone in the room off guard.</p><p>Standing there was Rikku, completely out of breath and on the brink of collapsing. Avian had a horrible feeling.</p><p>“Rikku!” his dear friend (and not-so-secret lover), Shizu, yelled as he rushed to his side, eyes blue from worry.</p><p>Looking up, everyone, even those in the back of the class, even <em> Davis </em>(who had been mindlessly playing Mario Maker) could see Rikku’s fearful expression and the plentiful amount of tears and snot leaking out his eyes and nose (respectively, of course).</p><p>Avian was immediately at Rikku’s side in less than a second, crouching down to the young child’s level.</p><p>“Rikku… what happened?” He asked as calmly as possible. Unfortunately, the young witch was clearly not as calm.</p><p>“LATESCHOOLRUNNINGARTEMISFENCEHOLESCREAMINGSHINO-!”</p><p>Avian firmly placed his hands on Rikku’s shoulders, effectively quitting him before he could keep rambling.</p><p>“Rikku, can you take me to where they are?” Avian asked.</p><p>Rikku nodded frantically as he dashed out of the classroom. As he quickly got up, Avian turned around and announced, </p><p>“If we’re not back in 20 minutes, class is dismissed!” before flying after Rikku.</p><p> </p><p>
  <span class="break"> <strike> <b>&lt;Are you close? Shouldn’t it come to you naturally?&gt;</b> </strike> </span>
</p><p> </p><p>Shino was worried that if the pulling kept happening, Artemis was going to walk away with something worse than a broken or dislocated arm, but as if something had heard his fears, the stone limb loosened its grasp around Artemis’ arm, and the two went flying backwards, only looking up just in time to see the thing retract into a stone slab under a glass coffin. Shino looked at his roommate.</p><p>Instead of black and white hair, or normal purple eyes behind glasses (That had gone missing sometime during the ordeal), Artemis’ hair almost seemed to glow a pure white in the darkness, and his scleras had inverted. During the struggle, Artemis had tried to use his quirk, he had tried to turn into shadows and escape, but he couldn’t. His body refused to fade, it refused to sink into the darkness, not while the stone cuff was still attached.</p><p>Artemis’ hair, eyes, and voice had yet to return to normal, but his arm… Shino cringed. <em> It wasn’t pretty. </em></p><p>The purple-eyed male was cradling his left arm with the right. The limb was bruised, pale, limp, and bleeding from several punctures all over his arm, and his shoulder… it didn’t match the other, it looked too square. If the fall hadn’t broken his arm, then whatever that bloodsucking stone was certainly did.</p><p>“Artemis, we need to get out of here,” Shino insisted.</p><p>Looking up at him with tearful eyes, Artemis nodded in pained silence. The taller boy helped him up to his feet and began ushering him back to the hole, hoping that Rikku would soon arrive with their teacher, but a loud noise behind them froze them like ice.</p><p>It sounded like glass, shattering into a million pieces. When Shino and Artemis looked back, their hearts might as well have jumped out their chests, because the corpse that had been peacefully resting moments ago had broken free from its coffin, and was now lurching towards their direction, slowly but surely.</p><p>Artemis felt himself staring into their glossed-over, cracked mirror eyes a few seconds too long as Shino pushed him forward.</p><p>“Keep going, don’t stop!” he encouraged.</p><p>Artemis’ heavy breathing and whimpering was the only reply he could muster as the two rushed towards the hole, the winged corpse still on their tracks.</p><p>“RIKKU!” Shino yelled as loud as he could, but there was no reply. No reply means no Rikku, no Rikku means no Avian, no Avian means no escape. For him at least.</p><p>“Artemis, you need to get out of here now.” The look the other gave him looked like a cross-breed between horror and anger,</p><p>
  <b>“I-I won’t-!”</b>
</p><p>“You’re injured! I’m not!” Shino hissed between gritted teeth. “I’ll hold that thing off!”</p><p>Despite his persistence, Artemis clearly refused to leave him alone, his hair and eyes returning back to normal.</p><p>“Arte-!”</p><p>“HEADS UP!”</p><p>Looking up, the two teens could see a blur of purple, red, and white diving down the hole, and immediately ducked as low as they could.</p><p>In came Avian, pro hero and teacher of Monarch Academy’s class 1-B, gracefully swooping in from the hole and shockingly colliding with the winged-corpse.</p><p>Taking one look at the ominous growling fellow, Avian yelled out one, loud “HELL NO”, before going airborne, grabbing Artemis and Shino (Much to the former’s pained yelling), and rising out of the hole.</p><p>Once they resurfaced onto solid ground, they were immediately greeted with a sobbing, yet overjoyed Rikku who quickly rushed to hug the two, only to stop once he noticed the state of Artemis’s arm. It looked a lot worse in the light.</p><p>“Is your arm okay?!” Rikku asked despite the fact it obviously was not.</p><p>“Not gonna lie… I think I’d rather lose it than feel the pain,” Artemis replied, panting heavily, and feeling unnaturally lightheaded despite the fact he was still seated on the floor.</p><p>Avian, on the other hand, was checking to see if the ominous corpse had followed them or not, <em> it hadn’t</em>. It was still at the very bottom of the hole, as still as a statue, staring into Avian’s soul with it’s smoking, mirror eyes.</p><p>Avian shuddered, clearly unnerved, but confused as to why it wasn’t following them, it too had wings, after all.</p><p><em> ‘Maybe those wings are just for show…?’ </em> he thought. <em> ‘Or maybe he doesn’t like the sunlight?’ </em> It was a reasonable explanation since it was staring at him just beyond the light’s reach. </p><p>No matter, there were more pressing matters to attend to right now if the corpse can’t follow,  such as getting Artemis to Venus’ office.</p><p>He sneaks one glance from the statue-like thing, before turning around.</p><p> </p><p>
  <span class="break"> <strike> <b>&lt;And everyone knows,&gt;</b> </strike> </span>
</p><p> </p><p>The short trip to the infirmary felt agonizingly long to Artemis. Not only did he feel like he’d been run over by a truck several times (And his arm several more), but he couldn’t move that limb either. It felt like dead weight that would claw and burn him every time it was met with the slightest of movements.</p><p>Much to no one’s surprise, Venus was <em> very </em>concerned about what had happened, but thankfully, focused on tending to his wounds instead. The entire healing process was a blur to Artemis, his brain could barely keep up, but when he could think again, he noticed his arm hurting a lot less. </p><p>Although it was quite the uncomfortable<em> - thankfully painless- </em> sensation, Venus was truly a healing goddess since they were able to mend his dislocated shoulder and broken arm, but the puncture wounds… they made them look nervous… and that made Artemis nervous.</p><p>“That’s odd…” Venus muttered with furrowed brows.</p><p>“What’s odd?” Shino asked from his spot on the ground.</p><p>After that accident in the hole, Shino and Rikku had wanted to follow them to the nurse’s office, just to make sure he’d be alright. Avian was thankfully understanding of this and let them wait by the bedside. There wasn’t much space in there though, so they could only bring one chair in, and that one chair was the one Shino gladly let Rikku have, letting the younger boy doze off for a few minutes. The shock seemed to have finally tired them out.</p><p>Back to the topic at hand, however, Venus had yet to properly respond to Shino’s question. That paired up with the fact Artemis still has over a dozen puncture wounds on his wrist is mildly concerning.</p><p>“Uh… should… should I panic?” Artemis asked cautiously.</p><p>This seemed to snap Venus out of their thoughts.</p><p>“Ah! Nonono, don’t worry, it’s nothing too concerning! Just… It seems like my quirk is ineffective on those puncture wounds.” Venus explained as they began rummaging through one of the drawers.</p><p>“Although I don’t doubt your judgement, isn’t that a bad thing?” Shino asked.</p><p>“Not at all! It just means it will have to heal like any normal wound…<em> I think. </em>” As they turned around, Venus presented a roll of bandages to the group. “Hold your hand out?”</p><p>“Oh! Right…” Artemis did as he was told and watched as Venus wrapped bandages around the wounds, snug, but not too tight. </p><p>“Alright, and now you’re good to go!” they announced with a smile.</p><p>He thanked them as he picked his bag up and slung it over his back. As Shino worked to wake Rikku up, Artemis noticed the holes and rips in his clothes and made a mental note to mend them later.</p><p>“Rikku, wake up,” Shino said as he lightly shook the younger boy’s shoulder.</p><p>“Taco--ehh… what’s... what’s going on?” Riku asked drowsily.</p><p>“It’s time for us to go,” Artemis answered sweetly.</p><p>This caused a realisation to dawn on Rikku. For the first minute he was awake, he was busy panicking over Artemis and checking to see if he was okay. After that, they finally gathered all their things up and began heading out the building, completely unaware of the absence of their homeroom teacher.</p><p> </p><p>
  <span class="break"> <strike> <b>&lt;You’re losing your gift,&gt;</b> </strike> </span>
</p><p> </p><p>When Avian returned to the hole, he wasn’t surprised to see the strange, winged individual gone from the bottom of the hole. Not even some of the most strong-willed people he knows would willingly stand in one place for someone to <em> maybe </em> come back without wandering even just a little bit.</p><p>Avian knew he still had to be careful when searching for this person. They were ominous, but he doesn’t think they were a villain, this whole ordeal with the hole and chamber seemed a little too much of an elaborate and dangerous plan.</p><p>Still, he’d rather investigate to see if it was something to actually worry about before alerting the rest of the faculty. And also maybe look for Artemis’ glasses while he was at it. He hadn’t noticed their absence until the whole ordeal was over, and Avian’s pretty sure he’d be thankful to have them back.</p><p>Taking a deep breath, the teacher glided down the hole, merely avoiding the rose bushes (Because getting all those thorns out of his wings later will be a pain) and landed gracefully in the darkness. </p><p>With the use of his quirk, his wings went ablaze, lighting up the cavern in case the mystery person was lingering in the shadows. After a quick spin around, however, he could not see the person, nor the glasses anywhere, but he was most certainly taken aback by the cave’s appearance… or perhaps… should he say <em> tomb? </em></p><p>It was a little chilling, knowing that the school was built upon an ancient greek tomb… actually, that’s quite odd.</p><p>
  <em> ‘Why would there be a greek tomb here?’ </em>
</p><p>It didn’t make sense to Avian, but he couldn’t let himself ponder over it for too long, he had things to find, after all.</p><p>Archway after archway, he ventured into the depths of the tomb, checking every nook and cranny, until he finally arrived at the final room, a room that looked to be a final resting place.</p><p>Even without the help of his elemental wings, the chamber was already illuminated by a plethora of glowing crystals and decorated with sleek designs, all leading his eyes to the centre of the room where a casket sat.</p><p>It was empty, and Avian did not like the implications of that.</p><p>Stepping over the bazillion shards of glass, he approached it, carefully observing the flowers arranged on it. Although beautiful, most of them had been crushed into a shape that vaguely resembles… <em> human</em>. In fact… it reminds him a little of the imprint he <em> himself </em> leaves on his bed. It was unsettling.</p><p>As he studied them, Avian noticed something else sticking out from among the flowers. It looked like… it… looked like a needle, and based on the imprints in the flowers, it was positioned right where the <em> neck </em>would be…</p><p>
  <em> It smelt like blood too. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>He decided to back off from the casket for now and keep scanning the room, in case there was some hiding spot he was unaware of. He circled around the casket and began running his hand across the walls in case there was some secret switch. He found nothing.</p><p>Next, he read the strange manuscript written on the walls, he couldn’t really understand the language, it was probably greek, which he couldn’t speak anyway, so it was kind of a waste of time.</p><p>After gathering enough courage, he decided to examine the coffin once more, circling it until his eyes spotted a rectangular hole carved into the opposite side of the door. He wasn’t sure how deep the hole actually was, but, the opening did look big enough to fit a person.</p><p>Avian decided to take a few step backs before crouching low to the ground…</p><p> </p><p>There was nothing in the hole. Nothing but a dust imprint of where something rectangular used to be, and an empty glass case.</p><p>Avian stood back up, feeling himself deflate from the sudden realization; that dismal being from earlier was most certainly gone from this place… meaning,<em> they’ve escaped, and there was no way to track them down </em>.</p><p> </p><p>
  <span class="break"> <strike> <b>&lt;And it’s plain to see.&gt;</b> </strike> </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Return</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Wow, okay<br/>the new episodes...<br/>I saw Davis' episode regarding the whole Hero vs Villain training thing... and um...<br/>My soul,<br/>It's freaking crushed.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
<span class="break">
  <strike>
    <b>&lt;But then, something must have changed in me.&gt;</b>
  </strike>
</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Artemis isn’t happy.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>He was, but not anymore.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>He was very afraid. He wasn’t sure why though, everything was far too fuzzy to make sense. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>There was something in the sky, something he was very afraid of, something he hated… something that looked faintly human with two, large masses beside it.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>They looked… purple- no. Most certainly not purple, but magenta. Purple was the colour of his own eyes, and Rikku’s favourite colour, and the colour of the flowers he used for his hero name. Purple was the colour he used for both their hero costumes. It was also the colour of… the colour of… whose eyes again? Artemis couldn’t really remember, nor did he have the time to do so, because as everything faded into darkness, he was left with nothing more than a few words,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Run, Artemis… I’ll hold him... back. Just... remember that... I… ...”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>The voice never finished their sentence.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
<span class="break">
  <strike>
    <b>&lt;I don’t fear it anymore.&gt;</b>
  </strike>
</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When Artemis woke up, the moon was still high in the sky, and the world was bathed in shadows. He was so very tired, but couldn’t find the strength to fall back asleep. He wished he had asked Venus for advice on his sleep deprivation, but he had completely forgotten after the whole ordeal regarding the hole.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Artemis decided to just stare at the blurry ceiling above him, reminding him of the absence of his glasses, which would prove to be an issue due to his nearsightedness and his lack of sufficient funds to buy a new pair. Unless his glasses mysteriously turned up, he’d have to deal with it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Speaking of blurriness, however… that dream he just had… it wasn’t a new dream, but he did remember the last time he dreamt it; two years ago before they stopped altogether.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That dream always made him feel so helpless… the same way he felt when he couldn’t escape the strange stone claw earlier that morning. He didn’t know why it made him feel that way, he could barely even understand what was going on at all!</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He grumbled in frustration before sitting up in his bed, staring groggily at nothing in particular. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>‘Maybe some tea or some warm milk might help me sleep…’</span>
  </em>
  <span> he thought, slowly shuffling through the door. That’s when he heard it… a soft tapping.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Artemis froze midway down the stairs.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shino…? Rikku…? Is that you?” he called out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was no reply, just more tapping.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He began weighing his options. Investigating mysterious noises on your own is always a horrible idea, but on the other hand, it sounded so close… If he ignored it, who knows if it’ll escalate into something dangerous! Might as well scope the situation and yell out to wake Shino and Rikku up if he gets attacked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As he made his way down the stairs, Artemis tried to keep an eye out for anything strange. Although his vision had been hindered due to the lack of glasses, he could still recognize the blurred objects sitting around the dorm.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He was most certainly nervous if his twiddling fingers had anything to say (a bad habit of his). Standing at the bottom of the stairs, Artemis did not notice anything out of place so far, the kitchen looked the same as it normally did, the living area was as it should be, and he couldn’t even see a blob out of place with the dining table!</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>‘Nothing looks out of place… perhaps the noise came from next door?’</span>
  </em>
  <span> Artemis reasoned with himself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yes… that had to be it! He was just unnerved from today’s events and just needed a nice cup of warm milk with some Oreos </span>
  <span>(Cannibalism 0.0)</span>
  <span> and a long rest in his bed! </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Satisfied with his plan, he decides to abandon the dining table in favour of the kitchen, but he stopped. Something moved in the corner of his eyes. A shadow.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Artemis knew looking back would be a mistake, but he did so nonetheless, yelping, and tripping backwards over a chair when he saw a figure standing ominously on the balcony outside, staring into his soul with its glowing, mirror eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was the same person from the hole.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Artemis was trying his best to think logically, but he was, in truth, losing his marbles.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>‘Calm down, Artemis, calm down!’</span>
  </em>
  <span> he yelled in his mind, </span>
  <em>
    <span>‘Besides following you ominously, he hasn’t done anything threatening yet, right?’</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>The winged figure opened the sliding door.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Artemis was quickly losing his calm. He scrambled off the ground, eyes firmly glued to the person as they slowly stumbled</span>
  <em>
    <span>- without the same lurched gait from earlier-</span>
  </em>
  <span> towards him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He circled around the table in response, observing them. He feels as if he should be screaming, warning the other two, but for some unfathomable reason, he couldn’t bring his voice to do anything but sit back as he figured the person out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Their presence was unsettling to say the least, even if all they were doing was following Artemis around the table, unblinkingly staring at him like a moth staring at light. It was most certainly creepy, but it didn’t seem to hold any sort of malicious intent.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Artemis wasn’t sure what to do… until he saw Shino</span>
  <em>
    <span>- tired and in his pj’s-</span>
  </em>
  <span> quietly creeping behind the person, gripping the back of a chair above his head.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He immediately knew what the other was about to do, but it appears that even that small glance was enough of an indicator to the ravenette, completely catching the two off-guard as they elbowed Shino in the stomach. Shocked, the orange-haired male dropped the chair on the ground with a loud clatter that could have probably awoken Rikku. The stranger took this opportunity to push Shino to the ground, pin him down with his foot and…</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Artemis froze.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Shino suddenly realized how real the situation had become.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Raised above the winged-corpse’s head was a sword, as sharp as it was shiny, with full intent on bringing it down on the orange-haired student.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It began to swing. Artemis panicked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“NO!!!” he yelled out of pure reflex, wrapping his arms around the limb the person used. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Artemis knew it was futile, he knew it was dangerous... and yet, the sword </span>
  <em>
    <span>stopped</span>
  </em>
  <span> as if his words had turned them to a statue. </span>
  <em>
    <span>As if it has listened to his pleas.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>The seconds passed by agonizingly slow as the two students tried to process what had happened. Artemis was afraid that if he let go, the stranger would go back to trying to stab Shino, who on the other hand, was almost too shocked to move. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>There must have been something running through its mind, but their face was too unreadable to guess what. Shino wrapped his hands around its foot, lifting it up just enough for him to slide out the way. The person did not resist. Artemis hesitantly let its arm go. The person did not try to stab either of them, instead, it abruptly turned around, its gaze directed at Artemis. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Before either of them realized what happened, it grabbed Artemis’ injured wrist and held it up, almost earning a yelp from said boy, and an aggressive response from Shino, who quickly scrambled to his feet, ready to take them down.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He never had the chance to, however, because what happened next left them </span>
  <em>
    <span>astounded</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
<span class="break">
  <strike>
    <b>&lt;Now I’m sure… I’m sure!&gt;</b>
  </strike>
</span></p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I'm sad</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Heal</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>SDJFA.ELUFB/ALIFN/LRE;LFD/<br/>I HAVE DECIDED TO POST ANOTHER CHAPTER IN CELEBRATION OF THE SAILING OF GOLDEN OREO/ARTINO<br/>I wish I posted a chapter for the sailing of Shizu x Rikku :'33</p><p>Edit:<br/>Forgot to add the chapter title XDD<br/>Also saw the title of owTreyalP's next video, and I can feel oncoming anxiety, panic, and heart attack coming.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
<span class="break">
  <strike>
    <b>&lt;Look at the sky, I’m still here. I’ll be alive next year.&gt;</b>
  </strike>
</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The dark room was now bathed in light. It was bathed in light, and Artemis couldn’t understand why it felt so familiar.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Surrounding the group was an orbiting ring of gold and runes, exuding glowing particles that tickled skin and lifted hair. </span>
  <em>
    <span>It was warm… like… like a soft blanket wrapped around him.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“What the…” Shino muttered, staring at the light with eyes the size of plates, a reaction Artemis shared as well.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The seconds that passed lost the awkwardness the previous silence held. When the person let his wrist go, the stinging pain he’d felt throughout the day faded with it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After a moment's hesitation, Artemis began unwrapping his bandages.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wait! Artemis, hold on!” Shino tried to interject but soon fell silent as he stared at the unwrapped wrist.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Those puncture wounds from earlier, the same one’s Venus couldn’t heal… they were gone. Not even a trace or scar left behind. It was as if they were never there to begin this.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“H-How…?” Artemis questioned.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Looking up at their face, he almost fell back when something was shoved towards his eyes. He moved back, surprised of course, but after blinking once and twice, he was taken aback. The world looked… clear.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Artemis…” Shino spoke from beside him. “Those are your glasses!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As if doubting his claim, the purple-eyed male reached to touch his face and was indeed met with the familiar frames of his glasses. If that wasn’t odd enough already, the sword the stranger held turned into light, before fading from existence alongside the circle.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The room returned to darkness.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Artemis and Shino were both completely speechless, unable to comprehend what had just happened. They both stared at the mirror-eyed corpse, who in turn, stared at them back.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What…” Shino paused, looking at them with a light glare. “What’s with you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Unsurprisingly, the ravenette did not respond.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So scary…” that sudden mutter made the two boys freeze in their places, before slowly looking towards the stairs. “But so cool…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was silence for a moment… before soon enough,</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Rikku?!” The two exclaimed because lo and behold, the third and last roommate was peeking above the stair’s opening with stars in his eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What are you doing up!?” Artemis asked, frantically. “How much of that did you see anyways?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, I woke up ‘cuz I heard a commotion and came just in time to see the scary angel hold Shino at sword-point! I was really scared and unsure of what to do so… so I just watched.” Rikku explained with a disheartened expression.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s okay Rikku,” Shino reassured. “I was pretty scared too- wait, angel?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah! My demon lord told me about them!” the blonde explained. “Although I guess they’d technically be a fallen angel since the wings are black… maybe that’s why they acted so aggressive at first!” He continued with a thoughtful look on his face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Would that make Avian an angel too then?” Artemis asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nahhhh, he lacks the ethereal quality the angel has- wait, where are they?!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Artemis and Shino quickly looked back, only to panic a little more when the ‘angel’ was nowhere to be found.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“W-Where did he go?!” Shino asked as he frantically scanned the kitchen.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“UHHHH, AAAAH, I DID NOT SEE!!!” Rikku wailed, scrambling onto the same floor as them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Artemis quickly looked around, before another shadow in his peripheral vision moved. He looked out into the balcony, feeling his eyes widen as the ‘angel’ grabbed something off the patio table and climbed onto the railing, precariously balancing on their feet. Their dark wings stretched out far, taking a few experimental flaps before the eventual ascent to heaven. Artemis hadn’t realized that he’d run forwards until he felt the cool night air against his skin.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>“H-HOLD ON! WAIT!” He exclaimed, grabbing their hand, yet somehow, undisturbing the balance they had. “You can’t leave yet after all that!” He said a little quieter so as to not alarm their neighbours.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They slowly turned around, staring down at Artemis with their unblinking eyes. Shino and Rikku both joined them on the balcony, the former more ready for a fight while the latter shook in his boots. This did not evoke a response from the angel, as it instead, crouched down to Artemis’ level, a sign of undivided attention.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>In all honesty, he had not expected them to listen so he didn't really have anything planned. He didn’t want to seem weak or awkward, so while he still felt bold, he let his heart do the talking, even if it meant crying from embarrassment later.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You… can’t just leave after all that! Not… without some sort of explanation!” He said between gritted teeth. “That crazy contraption of yours sucked my blood, you followed us and almost stabbed Shino… but you also healed me and returned my glasses. Just… why!? What are you trying to do?” Artemis was frustrated, but for none of those reasons. He just was, and he didn’t know why, and much to no one’s surprise, the ‘angel’ did not respond. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>‘There’s no point.’</span>
  </em>
  <span> Artemis thought bitterly, grip loosening around its wrist. Sensing the lack of pressure, the ‘angel’ held onto Artemis' retreating hand, quickly placing a circular, metallic object within his open palm before letting go of him entirely. Rikku shuffled to his side, looking at the object.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It looks like some sort of… thick compact mirror… or a pocket watch!” Shino came to take a look.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What… do I need this for?” Looking up, Artemis was slightly taken aback by the sudden weight on his head... He was being </span>
  <em>
    <span>headpatted</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>For the first time since Artemis has seen them, their lack of expression broke and a small, mechanical, almost nonexistent smile appeared. He was confused, but as he stared, he noticed something; the empty frame of their ankh pendant was a little less empty. Near one of its hands, there was a small shard of something shiny... </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>‘A crystal?’</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>He wanted to ask about it, he wanted to ask more questions, but before he knew, the ‘angel’ was sky-bound, leaving behind a small stray of bent, black feathers with a single white on amongst them, hovering down just close enough for Artemis to snatch from the air. The way it reflected the moonlight made it look like a glow.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What a piece of work…” Shino slowly commented, leaning on the railing as he watched the fleeting figure.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Although he did not vocally reply, Artemis could silently agree. He stared at the white feather. There was something about it he couldn’t understand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Arty, is something wrong?” he heard Rikku ask from beside him. He suddenly gasped dramatically. “That feather doesn’t mind-control, does it!?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nononono! It’s just… interesting!” Artemis reassured.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Shino hummed, looking at the feather as well.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I get what you mean. It’s not every day you see a person with black wings have a single, glowing feather among them.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Artemis understood the confusion, but that wasn’t what he found so odd about it. He didn’t know what it was though.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
<span class="break">
  <strike>
    <b>&lt;I can make something good, oh… Something good.&gt;</b>
  </strike>
</span></p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Question</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So I was originally gonna post a new chapter after the release of Naya's video where Rikku comes out as trans fem (Which either means I have to go back and fix all her pronouns or add a future chapter in this book where Rikku comes out as trans,   which I'm all for that, but I am still contemplating what I would do for all the future events such as the 'Mind-Control' incident), but then Rain's introduction was about to be premiered, so I decided to wait until that comes out before I post this uwu<br/>I do kinda really want to find a way to rope Rain in :\/\/</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span class="break"> <strike> <b>&lt;Wait again, I will be much better then,&gt;</b> </strike> </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> When Artemis returned to sleep, he couldn’t see anything, but he knew he was dreaming. He knew he was dreaming because he could hear the same melodic song hummed by the same, soft voice he always dreamt of. If that hadn’t been enough of an indication, then the shift in temperature and smell was a give away as well. It was warm and peaceful, like a blanket wrapped around them, and the place he slept in smells faintly of flowers, trees, lakes, and of something else… something comforting. Baked goods, sunlight… and perhaps, roses as well. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Artemis could feel a soft hand, brushing through his hair, trying to lull him to sleep alongside the song. He felt small, so very small, small enough to be a child asleep in their parent’s lap. Artemis wondered if this is what having a parental figure was like, he wished he could ask, if only he had the chance to. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> The humming stopped abruptly. There was a shift under him, and a voice. He recognised that voice. Although it’s not often he gets to hear it, he does remember it from yesterday. It was the same, unsettled, fright-filled voice. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “That’s… not… …” </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span class="break"> <strike> <b>&lt;And suddenly, I’ve restored your faith in me.&gt;</b> </strike> </span>
</p><p> </p><p>Unsurprisingly, Shino woke up the next morning, still very tired from yesterday’s midnight events. It felt as if he hadn’t even had a wink of sleep.</p><p><em> ‘Hopefully, this isn’t how Artemis feels every time he wakes up from a dream,’ </em> he thought groggily, grabbing his phone from his bedside table and watching as the screen turned on.</p><p>‘4:59 AM’</p><p><em> ‘In other words, far too early to be awake on a weekend,’ </em> Shino though, voicing a sigh.</p><p>Despite how tired he felt, he decided to wake up now rather than later with a headache. Getting up with a satisfying stretch, the boy got dressed in his most comfortable clothes and grabbed his phone. </p><p>After what happened last night, the first thing he wanted to do before going on his merry way was check up on his roommates. He quickly took a peek in Riku’s room, the boy was still out cold and drooling all over his pillow. He decided to check up on Artemis next.</p><p>As he rose up the stairs, however, he was quickly intercepted by an undeniably, mouthwatering smell. It reminded him of freshly baked cakes, buttermilk, and hints of chocolate and vanilla. He was in the kitchen in a matter of seconds.</p><p>His suspicions were confirmed when he was met by three plates of three, fresh, chocolate chip pancakes sitting innocently on the kitchen counter, an unopened bottle of maple syrup nearby.</p><p>Despite how much it made Shino’s mouth salivate, he was hesitating to claim a plate of his own. It was suspicious, to say the least. He was the only one in the dorm who knew how to cook or bake, and he most certainly didn’t make those pancakes. What if they were poisoned!?</p><p>Well, right off the bat, it <em> smelled </em> like normal, delectable pancakes. He cuts off a small piece of pancake and holds it near his mouth. He’s heard of this as a poison detection method, but that’s typically for plants. This was pancakes. But any method was most certainly better than just ‘digging in’ or throwing them out with no confirmation. After 15 minutes, he places the small piece in his mouth. After an <em> additional </em> 15 minutes, be believes it’s unlikely they’re poisoned… maybe. </p><p>Still, he takes the opportunity to drench the stack in maple syrup and proceeds to eat the pancakes tiny bite after tiny bite in case symptoms of poison were going to show up. He really hopes they don’t because these have to be the <em> tastiest </em> pancakes he’s ever had.</p><p>Halfway through the first cake, however, Shino notices something… or perhaps, <em> someone </em> sitting precariously on the balcony’s ledge outside. He didn’t even bat an eyelash as he walked over to the sliding door. It was the ‘angel’ (As Rikku called them) from yesterday, reading a book under the practically, nonexistent morning light.</p><p>Their back was faced towards the door, so it’s likely they don’t know he’s there, and if they do, then they’re giving no indication of it. He couldn’t fathom why they’d return, and against his better judgement, Shino joined the ‘angel’ out on the balcony.</p><p>“So um… lovely weather we’re having,” he commented, taking another bite of pancakes. </p><p>From the few interactions they’ve had, Shino had a hard time figuring out what was going on inside their head and if they could really be trusted. What were they even trying to accomplish? </p><p>He had expected a vocal reply, but instead received a look of acknowledgement, and the flip of a page. He hadn’t taken much time to observe the little details in their previous encounters, but he noticed how their movements looked uncomfortably stiff, almost robot-like.</p><p>“So… did you make these?” Shino asked once more, holding up the plate a little.</p><p>The ‘angel’ nodded.</p><p>“They’re not poisoned, right?”</p><p>They shook their head with slight, furrowed brows. For the sake of pancakes, Shino will take their word for it, just as he’ll take another bite of cake.</p><p>“Are you unable to talk?” He asked curiously since all their previous responses had been physical, as opposed to vocal.</p><p>The ‘angel’ paused for a moment before raising a finger and pointing to their mouth. They then slowly shook their heads. </p><p>“I see… selective or physical? Or do you just don’t want to? Raise a finger.”</p><p>Instead of lifting an appendage to signify their reply, they stiffly shrugged with an expression that almost looked confused. That made Shino confused.</p><p>“You… don’t know why?”</p><p>A nod.</p><p>“Were you always mute?”</p><p>A shake of the head.</p><p>“You were able to talk before?”</p><p>A nod.</p><p>“But you can’t anymore and you don’t know why?”</p><p>Another nod.</p><p>“Huh…” Shino hummed as he contemplated their predicament. </p><p>It sounded like an odd situation to find oneself in, but thinking back to the cave they found themselves in, he supposes there’s a reasonable explanation for that. He just lacked the comfort and courage to bring it up. </p><p>Shino wished to ignore it for as long as he could, at least, until he was 100% sure this ‘angel’ wouldn’t furiously throw him off the balcony or shank him with their sword. He decided to shoot for simpler, less dangerous questions.</p><p>“So… what exactly do you identify as? Male? Female? Or something else?”</p><p>One finger.</p><p>“So he/him then?”</p><p>He nodded before pointing to Shino.</p><p>“Oh… me? Same, I uh… identify as male as well.”</p><p>The two once again fell into a somewhat awkward silence, although it wasn’t entirely unwelcome. It gave more time for Shino to study this ‘angel’ and to think up better ways to establish communication.</p><p>He observed his almost creepy doll-like appearance. Was it because of a quirk? Something else? Why was he still here? What did he want? What was his name? What was the thing he gave Artemis? And that book he read, Shino did not recognise it, and if that wasn’t already enough to convince him it wasn’t one of theirs, the book had been written in a language he could not read. It looked Greek though, but he feels as if it had to be something more, because no one, no matter how crazy, would willingly write a book so thick, it could put dictionaries and encyclopedias to shame. This also made him wonder how the angel was able to read it in his lap with so little effort.</p><p>The point was, they were all questions and answers that would be difficult for him to obtain when, even if the ‘angel’ understood sign language, he didn't. He did however, get a new idea.</p><p>Placing his halfway-finished breakfast down to the table, Shino pulled out his phone and opened the notepad app before sliding it towards the ‘angel’. The ravenette paused, staring at the device with owlish eyes for a few seconds. Finally, with movement akin to a robot, he slowly picked the device up.</p><p>“Do you know how to use a phone?” Shino asked.</p><p>The initial response was an unsure shrug before eventually, morphing into a nod. This made Shino himself unsure, but decided to give the benefit of the doubt.</p><p>“Could you tell me your name then?”</p><p>The other gave no physical response though expressions or gestures. He just focused on typing in the letters at a speed so agonisingly slow, it was making Shino nervous.</p><p>In the end, when the ‘angel’ showed the screen, he was surprised to see so few letters.</p><p> </p><p>
  <span class="text"> <span class="text">‘</span> <span class="text">BRYAN</span> <span class="text">’</span> </span>
</p><p> </p><p>Shino was unsure what surprised him more, how long it took him to type five letters, or how <em> normal </em> the name was for someone who seemed so… ethereal. His surprise must have been evident if Bryan was looking at him with a raised brow.</p><p>“Just… didn’t expect something so normal,” he probably could have phrased that better, but Bryan’s amused grin felt reassuring. He next asked a question of his own, pointing to his typed name, then to Shino, and afterwards made a shrugging gesture.</p><p>“Are you asking for my name?”</p><p>A nod.</p><p>“Ah… it’s Shino,” he answered, feeling more confident to ask something else. “So, you’re appearance, is it because of your quirk?”</p><p>Bryan looked confused, or as confused as someone could look by only furrowing his brows.</p><p>
  <em> ‘Does he not know?’ </em>
</p><p>Shino had a feeling he might have been on the wrong track if Bryan had to type his answer out. Letter after letter, he couldn’t help but be surprised.</p><p> </p><p><span class="text">‘</span> <span class="text">WHAT IS A QUIRK?</span> <span class="text">’</span></p><p> </p><p>“You don’t know what a quirk is?” He questioned.</p><p>Bryan shook his head.</p><p>Shino was somewhat confused. Bryan looked so much older than him, but doesn’t know what a quirk is? He’s met <em> toddlers </em> who know what quirks are and parents who educate their <em> babies </em> on what quirks are. How has a grown adult never heard of what a quirk is before?</p><p>“Did you live alone before this?”</p><p>Bryan shook his head. This did not help solve Shino’s confusion.</p><p>“How did you get your ability to heal and…” he gestured at Bryan’s appearance. “... All that.”</p><p>The ‘angel’ began to slowly type his answer. A few minutes later, he was done and ready to show Shino. This made his stomach do summersaults.</p><p> </p><p><span class="text">‘</span> <span class="text">I LEARNED TO HEAL, I WAS BORN WITH WINGS, AND I ASSUME I LOOK LIKE THIS AS A RESULT OF MY DEATH</span> <span class="text">’</span></p><p> </p><p>His death…</p><p>It was a topic Shino had been afraid to bring up in case Bryan were to react to it negatively, but… he seemed so… unbothered by it, as if he’d just answer what colour the sky was. </p><p>He didn’t get it, and Bryan noticed that, so Shino nervously laughed.</p><p>“I just… didn’t think you’d be so calm to learn this.”</p><p>Bryan typed some more.</p><p> </p><p><span class="text">‘</span> <span class="text">WAS UPSET, BUT I HAD CLOSURE. I THINK</span> <span class="text">’</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <em> ‘He thinks?’ </em>
</p><p>“What… sort of closure?” </p><p>Bryan made no move to explain. Shino assumes that he wishes for the topic to be dropped.</p><p>The two fell into silence, before soon after, the sound of typing reached Shino’s ears.</p><p> </p><p><span class="text">‘</span> <span class="text">WHAT IS A QUIRK?</span> <span class="text">’</span></p><p> </p><p>Shino almost forgot that he had left that previous question unanswered.</p><p>“Uh… well, it’s basically an ability most people are born with,” he explained. “Kind of like… your flight or healing, though normally, not both.”</p><p>Bryan slowly nodded to signify that he understood. He pointed to Shino.</p><p>“My quirk?”</p><p>Bryan nodded.</p><p>“Well, it’s called Hardlight. Basically, I can use light to create physical objects, but overusing it can lead to temporary blindness,” He explained as Bryan furrowed his brows. “Oh, well, there’s nothing too much to worry about. It’s given me the chance to enhance my other sense!”</p><p>Bryan looked glad to hear that. He then pointed to the dorm.</p><p>“The others?” Shino asked as the other nodded. “Well, Rikku<em> - the blonde one, by the way- </em> has an explosion quirk, he can’t control it very well though and tends to pass out after using it. As for Artemis,”</p><p>The mention of the purple-eyed male seemed to pique the ravenette’s interests. Odd.</p><p>“Artemis’ quirk is shadow. He can create, shape, and manipulate the shadows of people and objects. He can also turn into shadows.” Shino explained. “What’s up? You seem to be in deep thought.”</p><p>That was an understatement. Bryan looked as he was trying to recall something important, but whatever it was, it was already too lost in the darkest crevices of his mind.</p><p>“Um… Bryan?” Remembering where he was, said male began typing some more.</p><p><br/>
<span class="text">‘</span>
  <span class="text">SORRY ABOUT THAT</span>
  <span class="text">’</span>
</p><p> </p><p>“It’s no problem,” Shino reassured. “What were you thinking about, anyway?”</p><p> </p><p><span class="text">‘</span> <span class="text">I REMEMBER KNOWING SOMEONE WHO COULD CONTROL SHADOWS. IT WAS LONG AGO, I THINK</span> <span class="text">’</span></p><p> </p><p>Shino raised a brow.</p><p>“We’re not talking about Artemis, right?”</p><p>Bryan typed some more.</p><p> </p><p><span class="text">‘</span> <span class="text">NOT ARTEMIS, BUT SOMEONE JUST AS IMPORTANT, I THINK</span> <span class="text">’</span></p><p> </p><p>Now <em> that </em>piqued Shino’s curiosity.</p><p>“What do you mean ‘someone just as important’?”</p><p>Bryan hesitated as if attempting to find the words to use.</p><p>“Um… okay, simpler question; who was this other person?”</p><p>Based on the fact Bryan immediately began typing, Shino supposed it was a simple enough question.</p><p> </p><p><span class="text">‘</span> <span class="text">I CAN’T REMEMBER EVERYTHING, BUT THEY ARE VERY IMPORTANT TO ME. I THINK I LOVED THEM</span> <span class="text">’</span></p><p> </p><p>This brought a bittersweet smile to Bryan’s face. Shino knows what it’s like to lose someone important, but he could not imagine knowing that he’s forgotten someone important, but he can’t remember who.</p><p>He hummed in thought.</p><p>“Your memories… are they lost because of what happened to you?” Although he now knows Bryan won’t stab him for bringing his death up, he’d rather refrain from outright mentioning it since it was a topic of discomfort to both.</p><p>Bryan bit his lip as Shino watched him type away.</p><p> </p><p><span class="text">‘</span> <span class="text">NOT ENTIRELY. IT WAS BECAUSE OF THE WAY I DIED THAT I AM THIS WAY. IF I HAD DIED LIKE ANY OTHER PERSON, I PROBABLY WOULD NOT BE IN THIS SITUATION TO BEGIN WITH. I THINK</span> <span class="text">’</span></p><p> </p><p>Although Shino was not surprised to see the topic of Bryan’s death be unfortunately brought up, but this new information that had been brought up, as guiltily as he would admit it, his interest had been piqued.</p><p>“You remember how you died?”</p><p> </p><p><span class="text">‘</span> <span class="text">BITS AND PIECES AND WHAT FOLLOWED AFTER IT.</span> <span class="text">’</span></p><p> </p><p>Before Shino could ask what it was that he remembered or how it was even <em> possible </em> to remember something after death, Bryan had already begun typing. When he showed the phone to Shino, the student felt his blood run cold.</p><p> </p><p><span class="text">‘</span> <span class="text">MY SOUL WAS SHATTERED ALONGSIDE MY BODY. I COULDN’T BE SAVED. SOMETHING HAPPENED AFTER THOUGH</span> <span class="text">’</span></p><p> </p><p>Shino felt as if he were dancing with the devil, but like an addict indulging in their cravings, he kept asking.</p><p>“If you died, then how did something happen after?”</p><p>Bryan’s answer involved a lot of typing, pauses, deleting, and re-typing before he showed Shino.</p><p> </p><p><span class="text">‘</span> <span class="text">I DON’T REMEMBER. IT COULD HAVE BEEN A DREAM, BUT I SAW THE ONE I CARED FOR DEEPLY. I WAS SAD, BUT… HE GAVE ME CLOSURE, I THINK</span> <span class="text">’</span></p><p> </p><p><em> ‘So that was the conclusion he mentioned…’ </em> Shino thought deeply. Perhaps too deeply, because by the time Bryan pulls him out of his thoughts, he had managed to type several paragraphs despite his slow, stiff fingers. He was also holding something up to him, his necklace, the ankh with the singular crystal shard.</p><p> </p><p><span class="text">‘</span> <span class="text">THE CRYSTAL IN THIS NECKLACE IS A SMALL SHARD OF MY SOUL. WHEN YOU AND ARTEMIS FIRST FOUND ME, I WAS COMPLETELY SOULLESS. UNABLE TO PROPERLY MOVE, USE ANY OF MY ABILITIES, TALK, THINK, OR REMEMBER.</span></p><p>
  <span class="text">WHEN I FOUND THIS PIECE, I COULD THINK LIKE I USED TO, I COULD MOVE A LITTLE EASIER, I COULD FLY AND HEAL, AND I COULD ALSO REMEMBER PIECES OF MY LIFE BEFORE.</span>
</p><p>
  <span class="text">DO YOU REMEMBER THE COMPASS I GAVE ARTEMIS LAST NIGHT? IT CAN TRACK SOULS. NOT JUST THE PIECES OF MINE, BUT THE SOULS OF OTHERS.</span>
</p><p><span class="text">I WANT TO PUT MY SOUL BACK TOGETHER. IS THAT OKAY?</span> <span class="text">’</span></p><p> </p><p>Missing soul pieces…</p><p>Soul tracking compasses…</p><p>Literal soul searching???</p><p>Although he now understood Bryan on a level he had not before, it would be a lie to say he wasn’t more confused, because what he just read turned his world upside down.</p><p>Shino had taken a bite of the forbidden fruit of knowledge, and yet, he still required more.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strike>
    <b>
      <span class="break">&lt;Look at the sky...&gt;</span>
    </b>
  </strike>
</p><p> </p><p>Artemis couldn’t tell what was written on that phone. Although the look on angels’s (he <em> knows </em> Shino said their, his(?) name before, he <em> knows </em>it started with a ‘B’, and yet he still forgot) face was innocent enough,  Shino’s on the other hand… looked conflicted- no… that’s not the right word. He looked… confused, perhaps, like someone had just asked him the most controversial question to exist.</p><p>They’ve yet to notice Artemis though, who still silently sat by the door, listening in, wishing to be a part of the conversation and learn what’s going on, but not having the courage to.</p><p>“That’s… certainly a lot more ambitious than anything I’ve ever tried,” He heard Shino admit sheepishly. “But… I have a gut feeling the others would want to help… which means I would too.”</p><p>Seeing the small, yet genuine smile on the ‘angel’s’ face made Artemis really curious now. What is it that he’d like to help with? Should he keep waiting?</p><p>“Oh right! There was this other question I really wanted to ask,” He heard Shino ask. “What exactly is Artemis to you? You said he was important, but he doesn’t seem to know you, so… what’s with that?”</p><p>His name had once again been brought up, and that made him curiouser and curiouser. The way the ‘angel’ perked up when Artemis was mentioned made him wonder if they really did know each other.</p><p>He wondered if maybe…</p><p>
  <em> ‘No… that’s stupid… right?’ </em>
</p><p>He let out a frustrated sigh. It was stupid.</p><p>“I see… well… maybe you’ll remember why if you find another shard of your soul?”</p><p>Artemis bit his lip.</p><p>Souls… souls… shards of souls?</p><p>That made him feel something, but he couldn’t figure it out. What and why?</p><p>“What is it exactly you two are talking about?”</p><p>Wait, who said that? Wait… it was him, he said that, and he was standing outside, looking at them with tired eyes.</p><p>Artemis would gladly bite the forbidden fruit of knowledge.</p><p> </p><p>
  <span class="break"> <b>&lt;<strike>Look at the sky, I’m still here. I’ll be alive next year.&gt;</strike></b> </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Compass</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sorry for not updating in forever,<br/>motivation had been lacking and I'm so freaking behind in My Hero Origins :'))<br/>Since it's been so long, I decided to post one of my premade chapters, but now I'm quickly running outta things to post :'DD</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span class="break">
    <strike> <b>&lt;I can make something good, oh… Something good.&gt;</b> </strike>
  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>Artemis’ sudden appearance was almost enough to send the ‘angel’ tumbling over the edge. His roommate was unsurprisingly surprised as well.</p><p>“Artemis! When did you get here?”</p><p>“Since the beginning, I think,” he replied with a nervous shrug, joining the two by the railing. No one failed to notice the ‘angel’ staring at him. He found it comforting, for some reason though. Curiously, he asked, “So, what were you guys talking about anyway?”</p><p>“That’s… a very long story,” Shino replied with a tired laugh. Artemis smiled, however, taking a seat at the table and a bite out of Shino’s pancakes.</p><p>“We have time, no?”</p><p> </p><p>It took Shino some time to go through his entire conversation with the ‘angel’, or Bryan, as Shino informed, still bewildered (Something Artemis strangely did not feel). They talked about the pancakes, Bryan’s mutism, pronouns, quirks and abilities, and the mention of Artemis’ own quirk brought upon a new, deeper topic. Bryan knew someone besides himself who could control shadows, and that although he couldn’t remember the reason why, he knew that Artemis was just as important as this mystery person was. It made him wonder if maybe, Bryan knew him… and if maybe, he knew his parents. </p><p>That thought played a big part in why Artemis became determined to help when Shino mentioned Bryan’s quest. After quickly excusing himself, Artemis made a quick dash to his room, messing his bed all over again searching for the compass the ravenette handed him last night.</p><p><em> ‘Aaaarghhhh! Where did I leave it?!’ </em> All he could remember was clutching it as he went to bed. He didn’t know why, but it had provided him with some sort of unexplainable comfort, but completely forgot about it when he awoke that morning.</p><p>“Where where where…? Ah! Here it is!” Fishing the compass from between the mattress and headboard, Artemis returned downstairs, a little surprised to see a familiar blonde witch there as well, feeling Bryan’s wings.</p><p>“Woahhh… they’re really soft!” Rikku said in awe as Shino joined him. </p><p>Bryan on the other hand had no reaction to them running their fingers through his feathers.</p><p>“Can I also feel?”</p><p>Rikku jumped a little at his arrival, but immediately brightened up when he saw his friend.</p><p>“Oh! Arty you’re back! Shino told me you went to get something?”</p><p>“Yeah… I’m guessing he told you the whole thing?” Artemis assumed, feeling the bent feathers of Bryan’s wings when the angel gave the thumbs up. They were surprisingly soft.</p><p>“That I did,” Shino said, taking a bite from the plate of pancakes Rikku had brought. “Albeit, a more condensed version of what I told you, since… you know, it was a lot.” Artemis laughed as he too took a bite of Rikku’s pancakes (Much to the witch’s complaints). </p><p>“Anyhow, Artemis, you have the compass?”</p><p>“Yep! It’s right here. I haven’t really done anything with it since yesterday, though,” the purple-eyed male answered, holding the metallic compass out to Bryan.</p><p>The ravenette, in return, gave him a slightly bigger smile as he gently took the object back, but still holding it out enough for all the others to see. The students weren’t sure what they were expecting to see when Bryan popped the lid open. It ended up being nothing flashy, but they were amazed nonetheless.</p><p>The inside of the compass, strangely enough, resembled something you might see in a sci-fi movie. At the bottom was a blue, red, white, and yellow grid that emanated a soft glow, and in the centre of the compass stood (what looked like) a small radio antenna with a glowing, white tip. The most interesting part of it, however, had to be the dozens upon dozens of colourful, holographic arrows circling the antenna. While most were staying still, there were a few arrows that were slowly moving to the left or right.</p><p>“Oh my…”</p><p>“Woah…”</p><p>“This is… are these all souls?” Artemis asked as Bryan smiled in confirmation.</p><p>“That’s so cool…” Rikku gasped in awe, moving to the left and right to see a pale yellow arrow following his exact location. “So high-tech!”</p><p>“How come there are so few arrows?” Shino asked. “If it pointed to the souls of everyone in the world, shouldn’t there be more?”</p><p>Bryan's only reply was a shrug.</p><p>“And what are all these dials on the side for?” Artemis asked, referring to the two turntable parts on the sides of the compass.</p><p>Bryan gladly showed them as he turned the dial on his left by one click. In response, one of the red arrows raised by a centimetre and grew a little bigger. On the compass’s lid, a screen appeared, bearing the familiar information of a person on one side, and what looked like… a live video of that person walking back to the dorms.</p><p>“Is… that Davis-senpai?!” Rikku exclaimed, watching the visor-wearing male entering his dorm through the compass.</p><p>“It appears so…” Shino said, clearly bewildered.</p><p>He turned that dial some more. They saw Flex dancing in his room, two white-haired students getting ready to go to sleep, Jack asleep, Kiyo laying in his bed awake, and a one-eyed girl in black creeping among the trees.</p><p>“Um… are any of these shards of your soul, Bryan?” Artemis asked, confused.</p><p>Said ravenette shook their head and turned the right dial as opposed to the left. In an instant, all the arrows vanished, not a single one left behind, and the grid at the bottom of the compass went from red, blue, yellow, and white, to a bright purple, blue, and orange. Bryan turned the dial one more. The grid became purple and blue, but still no arrows. The dial turned once more, and the grid became various shades of gold, silver, red, pink, green, blue, and white, and this time, there were about as many arrows as the first time, but now, they were all the same colour, and stationary. Bryan did not continue turning the dial.</p><p>“So this is it?” Artemis asked. Bryan nodded and began turning the left dial. Once again, they were shown videos of the crystal shards and their current locations, but the information section… it was completely glitched. The only thing readable were what appeared to be… measurements(?), all different for each shard. </p><p>The shard they were observing right now appeared to be in a completely unfamiliar area; a compartment within a chamber within a tomb akin to the one Bryan came out of.</p><p>“Where are the other shards?” Artemis asked.</p><p>In response, Bryan kept turning the left dial several times. This, however, only proved to be a disappointment due to the fact that all the shards seem to be situated in tombs that gave nothing away regarding location.</p><p>“How are we supposed to find them if we can’t even tell where the shards are?” Rikku asked, discouraged.</p><p>“Hm… mind if I borrow this?” Bryan gladly hands the compass to Shino, who begins flipping through the shards as he walks around the balcony. After a bit, he hummed in satisfaction.</p><p>“Looking at the information, it seems like the measurements are how close they are to us,” He explained. “The closest shard appears to be 600 feet away from us, or approximately 200 yards. That’s about the size of two football fields.”</p><p>“Woah… you know a lot about the length of football fields!” Artemis said in amazement. Shino laughed, sheepishly.</p><p>“I can tell you for sure, this is the sort of thing math classes drill into your head from a young age.”</p><p>“My schedule is pretty free right now, what if we went and checked it out now?” Rikku suggested.</p><p>“Well I never really have anything to do, so I don’t mind, what about you, Shino?” Artemis asked.</p><p>“Hah… well, even if I <em> did </em> have something to do, I wouldn’t feel too comfortable leaving you two and our new friend alone.”</p><p>“Hooray!” Rikku cheered excitably.</p><p>“Thanks, Shino!” the purple-eyed male said happily.</p><p>Bryan, of course, had nothing to say, but he did crack a small smile.</p><p>“We should probably get ready for this trip,” Artemis suggested. “Although it’s not too far, it would be bad if we got hurt and had nothing to treat our injuries with.”</p><p>“Ohhh! That’s true!” Rikku said in realization, before running off. “I’ll be back soon, I swear!”</p><p>Shino chuckled and Artemis giggled as they watched Rikku scamper down the stairs, excited.</p><p>“Well... I suppose us too must get ready,” Shino proposed with a smile.</p><p>Artemis had been ready to respond but was suddenly stopped when Bryan stood to his feet, balance barely wavering on the railing. His brows were furrowed and his mouth held in a tight line.</p><p>“Bryan? What’s wrong?” Artemis asked, worried by the sudden shift from at ease to apprehensive.</p><p>Shino yelped and Artemis almost screamed when Bryan let gravity pull him over the edge. The glasses-wearing boy rushed to look over the railing, he couldn’t see Bryan.</p><p>“W-Where did he…?” Shino stuttered, joining Artemis by the ledge.</p><p>He had begun to wonder what had just happened, but his question was soon resolved by the ringing of the doorbell.</p><p>Someone was here.</p><p> </p><p>
  <span class="break">
    <strike> <b>&lt;Look at the sky, I’m still here. I’ll be alive next year.&gt;</b> </strike>
  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>When Avian reached that conclusion yesterday, he rushed back to the nurse’s office to check up on his students, but they had already left safe and sound, according to Venus.</p><p>He was almost ready to rush over to dorm 8, but before he had the chance to fly over, his beloved had convinced him to tell them what was on their mind, which then led them to convince him to inform the rest of the faculty of what had happened.</p><p>He had hoped he didn’t have to be the one to explain the hole, but Venus drove a convincing point, so he shared what they discovered. </p><p>As obvious as it was, the ordeal regarding that ‘angel’ was concerning, so that afternoon, they had paid a visit to dorm 8. At the time, everything appeared to be fine. Shino had answered the door and thankfully had nothing odd to report, Rikku had been out visiting a classmate, and Artemis had gone to sleep, quite early if Avian had to admit.</p><p>Nothing new had happened that day, so the panic calmed down a little, not that it’s stopping Avian from checking up on those three today, in case anything had happened.</p><p>After a minute or two of waiting, the door opened, and once again, it was Shino.</p><p> </p><p>
  <span class="break">
    <strike> <b>&lt;I can make something good, oh… Something good.&gt;</b> </strike>
  </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Look At The Sky</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I freaking saw Naya's video about OoO season 3 and I'm literally losing my marbles, but am also reminded by the fact I have yet to finish even Bryan's point of view for season 2 and I am so out of date with My Hero Origins! The traumatic drama is just... too much ;-;</p><p>Alternatively;<br/>How long do y'all think I can keep this story going without being up to date with My Hero Origins?<br/>(I have not seen the episode yet, BUT HOLY GOD, IS DATABASE DEAD?!?!?!)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span class="break"><strike>
    <b>&lt;Look at the sky, I’m still here. I’ll be alive next year.&gt;</b>
  </strike>
</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh! Avian, sir, you’re back,” Shino said, sounding almost surprised for some reason, but the teacher decided to brush it aside for now and laugh tiredly </span>
  <strike>
    <span>(He did not have a restful slumber the night before)</span>
  </strike>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well can you blame me for being worried?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I suppose not, would you like to come inside?” the student offered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That would be nice,” Avian replied, stepping into the dorm as Shino moved aside.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The room was quiet, dim, and void of human activity. It didn’t surprise Avian, though. The sun had barely touched off the horizon.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are Rikku and Artemis still asleep?” He asked the student.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah… Rikku doesn’t normally wake up till later and Artemis… has been really tired as of late,” Shino admitted. “We’ve been meaning to ask Venus if there was anything they could do for him, but we all kinda forgot due to what... happened yesterday.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The mere implications of those events made Avian feel a little sick in his stomach, especially since it had been caused by an unknown entity.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s quite understandable, I mean, I too would curl up in my blankets and stay there for a day or two if that would have happened to me!” Perhaps if he was still an anxious student like Artemis, that claim would be true, but probably not anymore now that he’s an adult and pro hero. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So… what exactly did you come here to do?” Shino asked. “I mean, check up on us, obviously, but it’s pretty early. I probably would have been still asleep if I wasn’t having a hard time doing so.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Avian couldn’t help but be a little embarrassed, chuckling nervously at Shino’s statement.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I suppose I got very worried!” He admitted. “Although it seems it wasn’t for nothing. What’s up with you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, for the same reason, I suppose. I had a nightmare and couldn’t really find the strength to go back to sleep,” Shino quickly answered, shifting his weight from one leg, to another.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>This new topic piqued Avian’s curiosity.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“A nightmare? Mind telling me what it was about?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It wasn’t anything too crazy or unusual,” Shino replied quickly, shoving his hands into the pockets of his pants. “I just had a nightmare where… no one got to Artemis in time.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Shino’s crestfallen tone painfully reminded Avian of the sad look a child may have when they lose their first pet. In the end, the teacher could barely restrain himself from patting the top of Shino’s head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But it was just a nightmare, and Artemis is okay, no?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“R-Right!” Shino replied, a bit confused by the sudden head pat.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A few seconds pass before Avian is finally ready to move on.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, I suppose I’ve lingered here for a bit too long, you should probably go back to sleep soon. After all, weekends are the prime time for sleeping in! As for Artemis' tired problem, don’t worry about it, I’ll ask Venus for you, kay?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Got it, and thank you!” Shino called as Avian began walking through the door.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh! One last thing I had to ask.” Shino perked in attention. “Have you seen anything… strange since yesterday’s incident?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I have not,” Shino answered rather quickly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Avian hummed in thought, before nodding.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I see… then keep me updated if you see anything! Later!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Shino barely had time to bid the winged-teacher a farewell before Avian took off, flying high into the sky until he was all but a small dot.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The sky today was a shade of blue that seemed unnaturally saturated. Avian thought it felt peaceful. He hoped it was peaceful.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span class="break"><strike>
    <b>&lt;I can make something good…&gt;</b>
  </strike>
</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Shino couldn’t help but sigh in relief as he rested against the closed door. That conversation with Avian had been quite stressful, to say the least, and he feared that the teacher was suspicious of them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>To be honest, he didn’t know why he was so determined to hide the truth from him. Perhaps it was because Shino was uncertain of how the purple-haired man would react if he knew Bryan was still around. He wasn’t ready to risk a bad reaction right before their adventure. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They were lucky that Avian seemed to be bad at detecting lies, because if it were Database, then their only hope would have been to stay quiet. Unfortunately, that would have been quite suspicious.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shino…” The orange-haired male couldn’t help but crack a smile as he turned around, his gaze locked with Artemis’ worried face.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>‘Right… I practically ushered him up the stairs in a hurry.’</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah I’m fine, just… really nervous,” He admitted.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Artemis had already gotten dressed into more casual clothes; a grey, patterned sweater, a blue trench coat, darker blue pants, and brownish-red loafers.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>‘He looks good, but then again, when does he not?’</span>
  </em>
  <span> Shino thinks.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Bryan silently comes up behind Artemis, startling the boy a little bit, but was quickly relieved by the sight of the ravenette’s slight smile. He was holding out a glass of water for him, and Shino gladly accepted it, taking a large, refreshing, gulp of water.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thanks, I appreciate it,” He said, wiping away fallen drops with his sleeve. “Now, who’s ready for an adventure?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span class="break"><strike>
    <b>&lt;Something good.&gt;</b>
  </strike>
</span></p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa<br/>Sorry for the short chapter :'33<br/>On the bright side, I believe the next one is a little longer!<br/>I think</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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